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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Kate's nursery: DIY Custom mobile


 
As I got out the mobile I had purchased for Lily's nursery to set up Kate's bedding, it occurred to me I could probably strip the fabric and sew my own to make a custom mobile that matched the bedding.  So 8 days before I had the baby I set to work, and 4 hours later I had the perfect mobile.

 
The mobile above is what I purchased for Lily at Target just over 3 years ago.  I slipped off the dark brown fabric that covered the arm and used it to sew a cover in the same ivory velvet I used in her crib quilt.  I sewed the fabric twice as long so I could bunch it all the way down the arm.
 
I took off the pink and brown umbrella part and used it to make a pattern for an umbrella using the other fabrics I used for her bedding.
 
Instead of reusing the stars and moons that were hanging from the original mobile, I decided to make fabric puff balls instead.  These were easy but time consuming.
 
 
I started by tracing and cutting 100 2-inch circles for each ball.  I folded the fabric so I didn't have to trace and cut each circle individually.

 
Then I used this tutorial and ping pong balls to make the balls.
 
 
Each ball took me about 1/2 an hour.  The finished balls were just about 4" in diameter.

 
Aren't they adorable?  They would even look cute just hanging like this.

 
I pinned the ruffle to the umbrella I cut out and then pinned the puff balls at each corner.  I sewed and surged around the edges to secure and slipped it over the frame.

 
 Although this project took a little while, it wasn't too hard.  I am so glad I did it because it was the perfect mobile for this room.  We use it every day now that Kate is here and I love the way it turned out.

1 comment:

  1. This is so stinking adorable it's actually making me want to have kids so people don't ask why there's a random cute mobile in my house :)

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